


Don't Come Crying To Me

by itsthewickedstepmother



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kinda, because I'm obsessed with Zelda's character and her soft side, but like it's sad fluff, this scene broke my heart I had to write something about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 17:58:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16686376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsthewickedstepmother/pseuds/itsthewickedstepmother
Summary: Zelda waits up for Sabrina...a little extension to the ending of 1x09





	Don't Come Crying To Me

Zelda paced the kitchen in darkness, anxiously checking the window every so often with each rustle and distant footstep her sharp ears caught sound of. 

Sabrina had been gone for hours now. Hours since she had given her specific instructions insisting that she restore the balance and fix what she had done. Hours since Sabrina had defied her anyway and gone directly against what she had promised the High Priest she would do to make things right again. Now Satan knows where she was or what she was doing out there, desperately trying to fix what Zelda knew all too well was an impossibly unfixable situation. Not the way Sabrina wanted to fix it at least. 

_Everything has a price._

As the night wore on Zelda inwardly scolded herself more and more severely for not being able to prevent this; feeling the weight of responsibility pressing down on her shoulders and with every slight movement of her body the painful reminder she had left herself stung against her clothes, tormenting her with the overwhelmingly heavy sense that she had failed, that she deserved this. 

She glanced over at Sabrina’s seat at the empty breakfast table and felt the younger girls words from earlier ringing in her ears.

_“You’re not my mother Zelda, so stop acting like you are.”_

Dark heavy eyelashes blinked back another stream of tears just as she had done earlier, although this time there was no one around to see them as she replayed their argument in her head over and over and felt her worst doubts begin to creep back in. 

_“We were wrong all those years ago. We should never have taken Sabrina in.”_

A tear fell from the pale skin of Zelda’s cheeks onto the kitchen worktop and she stared down at it angrily, desperately trying to latch her focus onto anything other than her guilt plagued memories. 

_Of course she could never be Diana. How could she have ever even imagined she would measure up to what Edward wanted for Sabrina._

Another tear quickly followed the same path of the first when a sudden distinct movement coming from outside interrupted her spiralling thoughts. Checking the window she saw a small, blonde, defeated looking figure slowly approaching the graveyard and Zelda hurried to the front door. Quickly regaining her stoic composure she wiped her tears and steeled her expression, stepping out onto the front porch and watching silently as Sabrina slowly grew closer. Each heavy step the girl took looked to be barely carrying her, her shoulders slumped down and her body overcome with an emotional exhaustion Zelda recognised all too well and it pained her to see Sabrina weighed down with it.

“It’s over, Aunt Zelda-" The younger girl’s voice trembled as the cold wind blew through her hair. A defeated, hollow look haunted her face as her dark hazel eyes shone with heartbroken tears and when Zelda met her gaze from the top of the steps for a moment she felt as though she was staring back at baby Sabrina again. That same little orphan girl she had held close in her arms and sworn to protect like she was her own. The same eyes reminding her every day of her brother; of all she had lost and mourned and all she knew she could never bear to lose again.

_So much like Edward._  

“Tommy’s gone, and Harvey and I-" Sabrina’s voice broke off into sobs, unable to bring herself to reach the end to that sentence as she collapsed onto the steps and what little resolve Zelda had left to play the ‘I told you so card’ shattered completely. 

_Too much like Edward._

Every stern word she had been planned on saying all night, every lesson she had wanted to make sure Sabrina learned from this was completely pushed from Zelda’s mind and she found herself hurrying down the steps towards her niece to comfort her, cradling her shaking form close to her chest as she cried and cried.

Zelda rocked her gently, holding her head close just as she had done whenever she was hurt as a very little girl, running around the house just discovering her abilities as a witch and stumbling through learning how to use them.  

Except this was a pain she couldn’t fix for her. Heartbreak she couldn’t protect her from despite her best efforts to keep her safe, to try and keep her on the path of night and to stop her from suffering the painful consequences of disrupting the balance. _To stop history repeating itself._

She could feel tears soaking through the sleeve of her jacket where Sabrina had buried her head and Zelda stroked along her back gently, trying to provide what little comfort she could as Sabrina’s sobbing slowly subsided. The cold night air blew silently around them, stilling like that for just a little while longer until Zelda felt Sabrina start to shiver in her arms and she shook her head with a heavy sigh. 

“Come on, let’s get you inside.” 

Zelda helped her niece to her feet and wrapped her hands around her shoulders, gently guiding her up the remaining steps and trying to warm her up a little. Sabrina didn’t say anything, giving her Aunt a small nod as they stood up together and slowly approached the house. 

A welcome rush of warmth hit them both as they stepped inside, the amber light from the hallway illuminating the staircase and providing an eerie reminder of where they had been shouting at each other only hours before. 

Sabrina felt the support of Zelda’s arms slip from her shoulders as she stared at the floor and felt her coat being gently removed and hung up in the corner. The quiet was comforting and disconcerting all at the same time, everything so still and unchanged despite the fact Sabrina’s whole world felt spun upside down.

“Go on upstairs and I’ll be up in a little while.” 

Zelda’s words broke the silence and she watched as the young girl wearily made her way up towards her bedroom, holding onto the bannister for support as she went and Zelda exhaled slowly. _This was exactly what she had been trying to prevent her going through._

Once she was alone again Zelda headed into the kitchen to fix herself a much needed drink, passing Hilda’s teapot on the side table as she went and she couldn't help rolling her eyes. 

_Her sister’s simplistic solution to everything._

She was about to brush right past it and head to her own cupboard to find a real remedy when a thought struck her and she hesitated, glancing back at the fine china and tapping an immaculately polished fingernail against the floral pattern suddenly deep in thought.

_Still, it always seemed to settle Sabrina…_  

Zelda surveyed the various tea leaves and herbs laid out beside the pot, trying to remember which ones Hilda uses and she made a couple of quick calculations in her head before setting to work boiling some water to brew a fresh pot of her own. 

Waiting somewhat impatiently, once the tea was finally ready Zelda poured it into a white teacup before pulling a couple of extra ingredients out from her cupboard. She swirled in a measured sprinkling of a powerful dust which resembled black sugar, along with just a single drop of a potion she hid at the very back which turned the steaming liquid to a vibrant indigo colour, glimmering as it caught the light. Carefully Zelda carried the drink upstairs to Sabrina’s bedroom, knocking lightly on the door and finding her niece wrapped tightly up in her bedsheets and staring up at the ceiling as though she could see right through it.

Zelda’s expression softened instinctively at the sight of her before she made her presence known, her posture stiffening automatically again as she briskly stepped into the room and brought the teacup over to Sabrina’s bedside.

“Now, have a drink of this there’s a good girl,” 

Sabrina took the teacup tentatively as Zelda plumped up the cushions behind her and helped her sit up to take a sip. She watched over her and was relieved to see the drink begin to work its magic as the tension in Sabrina's body and the distressed far-off look in her eyes began to slowly ease away. Still Zelda realised that she wasn’t ready to say anything else tonight, and so she tucked Sabrina in again before smoothing down the sheets and standing up.

“We’ll talk in the morning.” Zelda turned to leave the room when she felt a small hand clasp around hers prompting her to turn back around.

“Thank you, Aunt Zee.” 

Zelda stilled in surprise, taking in the grateful sincerity on the younger girls face despite the clear exhaustion reflected in her small voice. She squeezed her hand and smiled, all the weight and sternness Zelda usually carried around with her lifting for a moment as she stroked Sabrina’s hair and kissed the top of her head before switching off the lights, softly casting a spell for peaceful dreams under her breath as Sabrina drifted slowly off to sleep. 

_Maybe she wasn’t wrong all those years ago after all._


End file.
